2nd dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine should be given 3 weeks after the 1st dose.

The 2nd dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine should be administered 3 weeks after the first dose, in line with the scientific evidence from the published data. The UK government’s latest vaccination strategy of delaying the second dose from 3 to 12 weeks is not based on scientific evidence.

We can only accept petitions about things the Government or House of Commons are directly responsible for, and decisions about approval of vaccines and the administration of these is a matter for various public health agencies, not the Government or House of Commons.

We have published the following petition calling for a related action, which you might like to sign:

Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials: Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials

The delays to receiving the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine has been implemented by the NHS following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments on immunisation, which has also been supported by the UK's four Chief Medical Officers. Their new advice and the changes to the Covid-19 vaccination programme are consistent with the temporary authorisations granted for these vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The JCVI, Chief Medical Officers, MHRA and NHS England are all independent and operationally independent of the UK Government, so we cannot accept petitions calling for actions that these bodies are responsible for.

You can read the JCVI's advice on optimising the COVID-19 vaccination programme for maximum short-term impact here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose-jcvi-statement/optimising-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-maximum-short-term-impact

You can read the statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the prioritisation of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-on-the-prioritisation-of-first-doses-of-covid-19-vaccines

You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine

You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/conditions-of-authorisation-for-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca